KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Lake County Rural Arts Initiative is adding a donation to the Shakespeare at the Lake production of “As You Like It,” being presented free of charge at Library Park at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 28, and Sunday, July 29.

The Mendocino College Lake Center theater program in collaboration with the Lake County Theatre Co. is staging a wonderful, fun version of this classic play.

The monies from donations support the free performances and scholarships for theater students at Mendocino College.

This delightful production and talented performers “add tremendously to Lake County’s already robust and exciting arts community and offerings,” said Conni Lemen Kosla, Lake County Rural Arts Initiative chair.

Lemen Kosla presented a donation of $300 to Laura Barnes, producer of As You Like It, and Wilda Shock, chair of the Lake County Friends of Mendocino College.

Call 707-263-7576 for “As You Like It” sponsorship information.

For more information on the Lake County Rural Arts Initiative, visit www.lcrai.org .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The GenX Cinema series presents the 1982 action/adventure/fantasy film, “Conan the Barbarian,” on Wednesday, Aug. 8, at 7 p.m. at the Soper Reese Theatre in Lakeport.

Entry is by donation.

The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones and Max Von Sydow,

Out of the swords and sorcery movie genre, “Conan” was former bodybuilder Schwarzenegger’s first film, in which he played a boy slave who’s grown up strong, angry and seeking vengeance.

This primitive pulp fiction film, from a Robert E. Howard book written in the 1930s, is full of quotable lines and gritty action including plenty of spilled guts, dismembered heads and bodies thrashed by sea monsters.

The film is rated R with run time of two hours and is sponsored by Cani Painting and Stone Fire Pizza.

The Soper Reese Theatre is located at 275 S. Main St., Lakeport, telephone 707-263-0577, www.soperreesetheatre.com.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The 1951 musical drama, “The Great Caruso,” starring Mario Lanza and Ann Blyth, screens at the Soper Reese Theatre on Tuesday, July 24, at 1 and 6 p.m.

Entry to the film is by donation.

This fictionalized film traces tenor Enrico Caruso’s ascension from adolescent choir singer to the uppermost ranks of the opera world.

His first love is Musetta from his hometown of Naples, and then Dorothy, the daughter of one of the Metropolitan Opera's patrons.

Caruso is unacceptable to both women's fathers: to one, because he sings; to the other, because he is a peasant.

Throughout you’ll be treated to the voice of the fabulous Mario Lanza and 1950s stars from the Metropolitan Opera.

The movie is sponsored by Alex Valiansky. Rated G. Run time is 1 hour and 49 minutes.

The Soper Reese Theatre is located at 275 S. Main St., Lakeport, 707-263-0577, www.soperreesetheatre.com.

I live in Nebraska, out in the country where summers have two seasons, ticks and chiggers, and both the ticks and chiggers like nothing better than a sip of me.

So how could I resist seeing what a tick might have to say for itself?

Here's a poem by Jim Zimmerman, who lives in Pleasantville, New York, which when the ticks are hungry may not be so Pleasantville.

His most recent book of poems is Family Cookout (The Comstock Review).

Listen to the Deer Tick Sing

I wait for you to come
to brush your shoe against
the blade of grass I'm sitting on
touch me with your hand
as you reach for one last
violet to take home

or pick up a worm to place
gracefully in the garden

even better if you lie
on a hillside to watch the sunset
or breathe in stars

I will feel your warmth, bury
my head next to that freckle
on your calf, that hair
on your forearm, or just behind
the lobe of your left ear

I promise not to take too much
blood into my swelling body

only what I think I need

and I will never
let you know I am here
though I will love you

deeply


American Life in Poetry does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. It is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2017 by James K. Zimmerman, "Listen to the Deer Tick Sing." Poem reprinted by permission of James K. Zimmerman. Introduction copyright ©2018 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – While go-go boots and tie-dye may not be the first things that come to mind when you picture a Shakespearean production, this year's Shakespeare at the Lake performance may change your perspective forever.

“As You Like It” will be set in the late 1960s, which director John Tomlinson says “actually gives the story more of a purpose. We are discovering more about the characters and the plot through this theme.”

The city folk in the play will be clothed in “Mad Men Mod,” as costumer Sarah Dutra puts it. Think big collars and velour. The country folk will don tie-dye, flowing skirts, and plenty of leather fringe.

If these descriptions made you think of items hidden in the deep recesses of your closet, we could sure use your help!

If you have any vintage ‘60s clothing or accessories that you are willing to loan or donate for the Shakespeare at the Lake production, please contact Laura Barnes at 707-533-3406.

Items may be delivered to Dusty D Workwear, 190 S. Main Street, Lakeport, on Sunday, July 15, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Free performances of Shakespeare at the Lake will be presented by Mendocino College and the Lake County Theatre Co. on July 28 and 29 in Library Park, Lakeport. The play starts at 6:30 p.m. on both dates.

Local food and beverages will be available for sale to benefit scholarships for theater students.

This summer’s groovy twist on a classic Shakespearean comedy is presented in cooperation with the Lake County Friends of Mendocino College and the City of Lakeport.

Laura Barnes is the producer of “As You Like It.”

SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO (Rated R)

Key elements of the second chapter to the drug war breaching our southern border are missing in the sequel to 2015’s “Sicario,” most notably with the absence of Emily Blunt’s idealistic FBI assigned to work the dangerous zone of the badlands boundary with Mexico.

Also absent from the crucial position of director is Denis Villeneuve, who plumbed the depths of darkness instead of pure escapism for disturbing realism. “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” no less touches on moral ambiguity in high stakes action for a pulse-pounding crime drama.

Taking over the reins held previously by Villeneuve is Italian director Stefano Sollima, whose body of film and television work is built around the often fine line that exists between cops and criminals. Netflix viewers may have seen his crime drama “Suburra.”

The new “Sicario” does reteam primary characters, Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), the mysterious attorney-turned-assassin, with hard-nosed CIA operative Matt Graver (Josh Brolin), to fight the drug cartels turning the border into an express lane through Texas.

The story opens with Matt operating in the Middle East to capture a terrorist bent on jihad with planned attacks on American soil, which is soon realized with a gruesome, deadly attack on a Kansas City supermarket leading to more fears about the porous southern border.

The drug cartels are no longer just shipping narcotics to the north. They are also engaged in human trafficking, acting as coyotes for not just hopeful immigrants but even Islamic terrorists. The cartels are now classified by the government as terrorists.

To disrupt the all-powerful cartels, largely abetted by the corruption rampant in Mexico, steely-eyed CIA superior Cynthia Foards (Catherine Keener) directs Matt to initiate a risky venture to the south to foment violent clashes between rival drug lords.

Meanwhile, another story emerges with the recruitment of Texas teenager Miguel (Elijah Rodriguez) in the border town of McAllen into smuggling immigrants that soon gets wrapped up in nasty cartel business. An encounter in a parking lot is a tip to a future troubling encounter.
The backstory for Alejandro is that his wife and daughter had been killed by a cartel, and he is more than eager for any revenge against responsible parties, which is one of the reasons he was an assassin in the first “Sicario” film.

Recruited by Matt for a new mission, Alejandro joins the effort to stage daring attacks on associates of cartel leader Carlos Reyes, first an assassination of the cartel’s lawyer and then a kidnapping of a family member.

The plan executes an abduction of Reyes’ teen daughter Isabel (Isabela Moner), who is first seen in a brawl at her school after being insulted with a derogatory slur. This establishes that she’s no pushover who may prove to be a problematic hostage.

The daring ambush on the streets of Mexico City is executed to perfection, leaving behind the unmistakable impression that a rival cartel has started internecine warfare. A wrinkle in the scheme is the aftermath of corrupt police arriving on the scene.

Nevertheless, after being transported to a safe house in Texas, the girl is “rescued” in a phony setup with federal agents taking out imaginary bad guys so that she could be returned to Mexico under the fiction of a rival drug gang having done the kidnapping.

Getting the victim returned to her homeland turns into a bigger headache when the transport is ambushed by violent cartel members and corrupt Mexican federal police. Even worse is that Matt is ordered to end the mission by erasing all evidence of American involvement.

As a result, the resourceful Alejandro and Isabel end up abandoned in the desert, left to fend with numerous dangers alone. They find temporary sanctuary at the home of a deaf farmer with whom Alejandro can relate because he knows sign language.

Having been insubordinate in the past, Matt is undoubtedly conflicted with the moral dilemma of treating an asset like Alejandro, along with the girl, as collateral damage but unfortunately that’s where things are headed.

The resolution to the quandary of conflicted feelings to bring closure to the mission is complicated. The relationship between Matt and Alejandro is tinged with an odd mixture of hubris and vulnerability. Where things will go seems to be an uncharted course.

Benicio Del Toro really shines as the gunman developing a conscience and willing to protect an innocent victim, while Josh Brolin is solid in his character even if it lacks nuance for one facing a moral impasse.

In the final analysis, “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” is a conventional crime thriller, where violence trumps the legal niceties that agents like Matt are only too willing to bend or ignore so that any rules of engagement don’t hinder the explosive action.

The second chapter of “Sicario” ends in a big question mark that is inconclusive as to be somewhat of a letdown as well as signaling yet another installment. Whatever the case, this crime drama still has plenty of thrills for any action junkie.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.